On Fox News on the Geraldo at Large show, October 6, 2007, Geraldo Rivera and other investigators accused Schwartz as a fraud as he had overstepped his position as a university researcher by requesting over three million dollars from a bereaved father who had lost his son. Schwartz claimed to have contacted the spirit of a 25-year-old man in the bathroom of his parents house and it is alleged he attempted to charge the family 3.5 million dollars for his mediumship services. Schwartz responded saying that the allegations were set up to destroy his science credibility.[194][195]
Spend time in meditation to contemplate the lesson the Universe is trying to get you to completely understand by having you experience this pain or frustration, bring forth the Light and the power of your Higher Self and ask for wisdom in moving beyond the situation. You will need to infuse the vibrations of Love and Forgiveness in order to really clear this experience from your energy field. Spiritual guidance will help you to see some of these situations and offer you solutions to clearing and moving onward to a more positive future destiny.

Growing up in the 1950s, I felt lost amid the materialism and shallow sunniness of the postwar culture; I longed for some overarching meaning. Then I came across books by two novelists, Jack Kerouac and J.D. Salinger, that opened my eyes to an entirely new way of looking at the world. I had not known that books could do this. These novels made life seem a much more mysterious and rich experience than I had imagined. At heart, they were books about spiritual journeys, and they made spirituality seem hip and wonderful. They also introduced me to the Buddhist concept of "right livelihood," thereby ultimately changing my life, for in time I gave up a lucrative career as a missile engineer to become a novelist and teacher of literature. Today, these novels have become spiritual classics, timeless books that provide special wisdom and insight for readers grappling with life's thorniest philosophical dilemmas. The novel as an art form originally came into being as bourgeois entertainment concerned with everyday matters, such as money, success, and ambition. Paradoxically, its very concreteness, which requires the novelist to create plausible characters operating in a credible world, makes the novel an ideal vehicle for exploring spiritual themes and presenting unorthodox worldviews. The best-selling novelists of our time seem not to understand this; but over the past century or so, the form's masters have put this opportunity to especially good use. Their handiwork includes, among others, the following 10 spiritual classics (including a novella, a short story collection, and one novel-like sacred scripture). I cherish these volumes as old friends and teachers; your summer reading experience will be greatly enhanced by packing one or more of these treasures in your travel bag.

In that vein, studying apologetics is a good way to learn more about the faith—as long as the focus remains on learning why the Church believes what she does, instead of bludgeoning others with the truth. Scott Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home tells the conversion story of him and his wife, Kimberly, from Protestantism to Catholicism. Just on its own, it’s a lesson in apologetics.
In contrast, the meanings in other decks are particularly difficult to decipher, like the infamous Thoth tarot developed by Aleister Crowley, notorious for his involvement with various cults and experimentation with recreational drugs and so-called “sex magick.” Completed in 1943, the Thoth deck was illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris and incorporated a range of occult and scientific symbols, inspiring many modern decks. As Wolf explains, “with the rise of the divination market in the 20th century, more liberties were taken, and the imagery evolved into increasingly personal artistic statements, both in content and style of execution.”
The biggest problem with de Gebelin’s work is that there was really no historical evidence to support it. However, that didn’t stop wealthy Europeans from jumping onto the esoteric knowledge bandwagon, and by the early nineteenth century, playing card decks like the Marseille Tarot were being produced with artwork specifically based on deGebelin’s analysis.
Michael Shermer criticized mediums in Scientific American, saying, "mediums are unethical and dangerous: they prey on the emotions of the grieving. As grief counselors know, death is best faced head-on as a part of life." Shermer wrote that the human urge to seek connections between events that may form patterns meaningful for survival is a function of natural evolution, and called the alleged ability of mediums to talk to the dead "a well-known illusion of a meaningful pattern."[201]

Most card readers recognize that the associations and preconceptions of the person being read for are just as important as the actual drawings on the cards: Divination cards offer a way to project certain ideas, whether subconscious or not, and to toy with potential outcomes for important decisions. Thus, like scenes from a picture book, the best illustrations typically offer clear visions of their subjects with an open-ended quality, as though the action is unfolding before you.

Ten mediums—five less expert and five experienced—were injected with a radioactive tracer to capture their brain activity during normal writing and during the practice of psychography, which involves allegedly channeling written communication from the "other side" while in a trance-like state. The subjects were scanned using SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) to highlight the areas of the brain that are active and inactive during the practice.

Psychic readings are very beneficial when you have not awakened yet and not quite ready for walking a dedicated spiritual path. Psychics can be very helpful in pointing out areas of possibilities that you could either move towards or back away from based on using your own discernment. Use the information they provide as potentials or guideposts as opposed to believing 100% in the outcomes shared. You always have free will to make the necessary adjustments in your life based on the information received. Most of the time psychics will give you the most probable scenarios that can happen to you based on your personality and individual energy of the soul at the time of your reading. They feel the details of your life whether it is the past, the present or the future and give you insights to help you to make a sound decision on your life. Because not all people have developed their extra sensory perceptions yet, these psychics can help you tune in to the right energy and people in your present reality so you can take control. With this added support and guidance in your life, you will have an advantage of observing your life as it moves forward and adjusting things that may been to be viewed more clearly in your future.

During a seance, a medium may be the method by which messages are relayed from the spirit world to the guests at the event. While some mediums may enter into a trance-like state, others may be completely awake and fully lucid while passing messages along. Sometimes, particularly if there are a group of fairly magically-aware people at the table, messages might be coming through all over the place, in no particular order. It can feel like the spirit world version of a chat room, with everyone just being bombarded right and left with messages from the other side.

The first documented tarot packs were recorded between 1440 and 1450 in Milan, Ferrara, Florence and Bologna when additional trump cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack. These new decks were called carte da trionfi, triumph cards, and the additional cards known simply as trionfi, which became "trumps" in English. The earliest documentation of trionfi is found in a written statement in the court records of Florence, in 1440, regarding the transfer of two decks to Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta.[6][7]
At one time these evil spirits were holy angels living in heaven with God. But they rebelled with Satan and were cast down to planet earth. It's in the Bible, Revelation 12:7-9 NIV. "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
Additional Tarot Definitions are still available. For those of you who have studied tarot yourself or are simply after further detailed analysis of each card. The wonderful soul Avia Venefica from Tarot Teachings has graciously donated her interpretations. All brought to life by the exquisite tarot cards provided by Aquatic Tarot and Ciro Marchetti
To be honest, it is my first time to read about Spiritual Readings and it’s difference to Psychic Readings. I do psychic readings but not professionally.. just for my friends and myself. I have often tried to know different kinds of readings and psychics because I wanted to share with others what they are because many times I have tried psychic readings from so called professionals and excellent clairvoyants only to be given a cold reading. I had been very disappointed before.
“When we used to send telegrams, each word costs money,” Matthews explains, “so you’d have to send very few words like, ‘Big baby. Mother well. Come to hospital.’ And you’d get the gist of it. I read cards in a very similar way—starting from a few general keywords and making sense of them by filling in the words that are missing. This isn’t the tarot style of reading where you project things, like, ‘I can see that you’ve recently had a great disappointment. Mercury is in retrograde and da da da.’ A cartomantic reading is much more straightforward and pragmatic, for example, ‘Your wife will eat tomatoes and fall off the roof and die horribly.’ It’s a direct way of reading, a pre-New Age way of reading.”
Trusting your intuition will help guide you toward the right psychic advisor. Simply browse our online profiles and see who you feel drawn to the most. Your gut feeling is your most important tool in finding the perfect advisor for you. Once you choose one, you can then view their ratings and written reviews to gain more insight into the type of readings they provide. Some people prefer a more direct, honest approach while others prefer softer, gentler guidance.
And here’s the thing – you may already consciously know the message or insight you receive in a Tarot reading, in which case, the reading can be a heartening confirmation of what you already know. Or, you might be completely unaware of the message until you see it reflected in the cards, in which case you are now empowered to take action based on your new awareness.
In 1966 the son of Bishop Pike committed suicide. After his death, Pike contacted the British medium Ena Twigg for a series of séances and she claimed to have communicated with his son. Although Twigg denied formerly knowing anything about Pike and his son, the magician John Booth discovered that Twigg had already known information about the Pike family before the séances. Twigg had belonged to the same denomination of Bishop Pike, he had preached at a cathedral in Kent and she had known information about him and his deceased son from newspapers.[169]
In a series of experiments in London at the house of William Crookes in February 1875, the medium Anna Eva Fay managed to fool Crookes into believing she had genuine psychic powers. Fay later confessed to her fraud and revealed the tricks she had used.[71] Frank Herne a British medium who formed a partnership with the medium Charles Williams was repeatedly exposed in fraudulent materialization séances.[72] In 1875, he was caught pretending to be a spirit during a séance in Liverpool and was found "clothed in about two yards of stiffened muslin, wound round his head and hanging down as far as his thigh."[73] Florence Cook had been "trained in the arts of the séance" by Herne and was repeatedly exposed as a fraudulent medium.[74]

Cold reading also explains why psychics have consistently failed scientific tests of their powers. By isolating them from their clients, psychics are unable to pick up information from the way those clients dress or behave. By presenting all of the volunteers involved in the test with all of the readings, they are prevented from attributing meaning to their own reading, and therefore can't identify it from readings made for others. As a result, the type of highly successful hit rate that psychics enjoy on a daily basis comes crashing down and the truth emerges – their success depends on a fascinating application of psychology and not the existence of paranormal abilities.[50]

The ancestors of what we today know as Tarot cards can be traced back to around the late fourteenth century. Artists in Europe created the first playing cards, which were used for games, and featured four different suits. These suits were similar to what we still use today – staves or wands, discs or coins, cups, and swords. After a decade or two of using these, in the mid-1400s, Italian artists began painting additional cards, heavily illustrated, to add into the existing suits.
Many souls have written or called me to ask, is an email reading effective? Is it as effective as say a phone or in person reading? What about healings, can they work via email or phone as well? As I have explained to many souls, an email reading is what we would call here on this earth dimension as just as effective and in some cases more so than the phone or a soul to soul physical presence reading. This is simply because in a phone reading or in-person reading, most of what is said we hear but we may be free from remembering every word spoken so that it resonates within us. While it is the energy of the reading rather than the words themselves that provide us with the shift within the soul, there are moments when we forget what is said and there are moments we come infinitely back to a Spiritual Medium or search for another reader to gift us what it is we have forgotten.
Among the Israelites, the penalty for anyone practicing spiritism was death. "A man or woman who is a medium or a spiritist among you must be put to death." (Leviticus 20:27, NIV.) God tells us, "And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God?" (Isaiah 8:19, NKJV). The admonition from heaven is clear. When in need of counsel, we are to seek God. He who assures us, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV). In seeking God, His Word, the Holy Bible, is to be our guiding light. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105 KJV).

The psychologist and psychical researcher Stanley LeFevre Krebs had exposed the Bangs Sisters as frauds. During a séance he employed a hidden mirror and caught them tampering with a letter in an envelope and writing a reply in it under the table which they would pretend a spirit had written.[68] The British materialization medium Rosina Mary Showers was caught in many fraudulent séances throughout her career.[69] In 1874 during a séance with Edward William Cox a sitter looked into the cabinet and seized the spirit, the headdress fell off and was revealed to be Showers.[70]

You don't have to be a professional medium to sense the presence of Spirit, anyone can get this ability. And there are two types of onset - one onset later in life, and one early on. Think: like Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. One has to do more with heredity and genetics (we think), and the other has more to do more with certain weatherings of life experience that make you more susceptible to it.

There are many ways of working with the deck. You should choose your own deck by being drawn to it intuitively. There are layers upon layers of systems to learn, including Kabbalah, the tree of life, colour scales, Hebrew letters, numerology, pathways, symbolism, alchemy, astrology, mythology and learning to meditate with each card directly. The more layers you learn the deeper your knowledge and insight into the cards.

At some point, during one’s spiritual path, a conscious effort must be made to clear out the old karmic debts that still exist within our energetic field. In addition, the awakened individual will at some point begin to understand how they have created the negative karma and will learn how to stop creating anymore. If you can fully grasp the concept that you have lived numerous times before this one and that in order for you to even be looking at spiritual guidance as an option in your life right now, you will understand that you have had to experience many negative and probably despicable acts, both as the perpetrator and the victim. We cannot know the beauty and joy of our connection to the Divine without first knowing the opposite — Purgatory/Hell. If you can accept that you were once a bad person, capable of some of the worse acts of mankind, then you can learn to accept some of the negative stages of growth that you must go through in order to clear some of your karmic debts. The best way to get through these situations is to accept that you have responsibility for creating the negative situation you are currently involved in, maybe you are not conscious of the past events that led to the karmic debt, but learn to trust in the divine principles of the Universe.

In 2013 Rose Marks and members of her family were convicted of fraud for a series of crimes spanning 20 years entailing between $20 and $45 million. They told vulnerable clients that to solve their problems they had to give the purported psychics money and valuables. Marks and family promised to return the cash and goods after "cleansing" them. Prosecutors established they had no intent to return the property.[196][197][198]

When deciding whether to consult with a local medium in person, check for a couple of things before scheduling. Does the person live in a decent or nice neighborhood? If not, that ought to raise questions about her ability to accurately advise clients. While it is common knowledge that mediums, like doctors, do not “treat” themselves due to the subjective nature of self-study, they should be able to boast a reasonable success rate with clients, which means the clients would want to return periodically as well as refer friends and associates. This would lead to significant income for an accurate psychic medium, so that she would be able to afford a comfortable home or office in a pretty good neighborhood. If the home or office appears run-down or quite modest, this may mean the reader is not as accurate as she claims. Not all psychics live in mansions, of course, but successful ones probably reflect an element of status.
You can find the psychics on various online websites who can offer Tarot Card readings, Palm readings, numerology readings, astrological (birth chart) readings etc. and also help you with issues related to relationships, career or personal life. However, they are generally expensive. I find that local psychics and sensitives ask a more reasonable hourly rate. Because they are in the room with you, you get a more personal relationship as well.
Mediums are souls in the world who still have their physical bodies, yet they can attune to souls who don’t (and communicate with them). In other words, we tune-in to those who have moved over to the Other-Side. I am the type of Medium who uses her mind to connect mentally with energies on the Other-Side. There are other Mediums who use their bodies to channel spirit.
The most powerful way to read the Tarot is to use the cards to access your intuition and your inner wisdom. The imagery in the cards give you instant access to your subconscious mind and your intuition. And from this place of inner power and wisdom, you can discover how to make positive changes now so you can manifest your goals and your dreams in the future.

In English-speaking countries, where these games are not played, tarot cards are used primarily for divinatory purposes, usually using specially designed packs.[1] The cards are traced by some occult writers to ancient Egypt or the Kabbalah but there is no documented evidence of such origins or of the usage of tarot for divination before the 18th century.[1]

Growing up in the 1950s, I felt lost amid the materialism and shallow sunniness of the postwar culture; I longed for some overarching meaning. Then I came across books by two novelists, Jack Kerouac and J.D. Salinger, that opened my eyes to an entirely new way of looking at the world. I had not known that books could do this. These novels made life seem a much more mysterious and rich experience than I had imagined. At heart, they were books about spiritual journeys, and they made spirituality seem hip and wonderful. They also introduced me to the Buddhist concept of "right livelihood," thereby ultimately changing my life, for in time I gave up a lucrative career as a missile engineer to become a novelist and teacher of literature. Today, these novels have become spiritual classics, timeless books that provide special wisdom and insight for readers grappling with life's thorniest philosophical dilemmas. The novel as an art form originally came into being as bourgeois entertainment concerned with everyday matters, such as money, success, and ambition. Paradoxically, its very concreteness, which requires the novelist to create plausible characters operating in a credible world, makes the novel an ideal vehicle for exploring spiritual themes and presenting unorthodox worldviews. The best-selling novelists of our time seem not to understand this; but over the past century or so, the form's masters have put this opportunity to especially good use. Their handiwork includes, among others, the following 10 spiritual classics (including a novella, a short story collection, and one novel-like sacred scripture). I cherish these volumes as old friends and teachers; your summer reading experience will be greatly enhanced by packing one or more of these treasures in your travel bag.
In the 1930s Harry Price (director of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research) had investigated the medium Helen Duncan and had her perform a number of test séances. She was suspected of swallowing cheesecloth which was then regurgitated as "ectoplasm".[148] Price had proven through analysis of a sample of ectoplasm produced by Duncan, that it was made of cheesecloth.[149] Helen Duncan would also use a doll made of a painted papier-mâché mask draped in an old sheet which she pretended to her sitters was a spirit.[150] The photographs taken by Thomas Glendenning Hamilton in the 1930s of ectoplasm reveal the substance to be made of tissue paper and magazine cut-outs of people. The famous photograph taken by Hamilton of the medium Mary Ann Marshall depicts tissue paper with a cut out of Arthur Conan Doyle's head from a newspaper. Skeptics have suspected that Hamilton may have been behind the hoax.[151]
Oracle decks like the Lenormand tend to rely on more direct visual language than traditional tarot cards. “The tarot can often speak in broad, timeless, universal statements about our place in the world,” says Wolf. “The imagery of fortune-telling decks is more illustrational and less archetypal. The images are generally more specific, simpler, and less universal, keeping the conversation more straightforward.”
In 1785 C.E., the French occultist Eteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) became the first professional tarot diviner. He popularized the use of the tarot as a divinatory tool to a wide audience, and was the first to develop and publish a set of correspondences, linking the cards to astrology, the four classical elements (earth, fire, water, air), and the four humors (black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm). These correspondences are still useful today.

Today "demonstration of mediumship" is part of the church service at all churches affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) and the Spiritualists' National Union (SNU). Demonstration links to NSAC's Declaration of Principal #9. "We affirm that the precepts of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes proven through Mediumship."